Elementary World Languages
Spanish instruction in grades 3, 4, and 5:
- Aiken
- Braeburn
- Bugbee
- Duffy
- Morley
- Norfeldt
- Smith STEM
- Webster Hill
- Whiting Lane
- Wolcott
Spanish and Chinese instruction in grades PreKindergarten to grade 5:
- Charter Oak International Academy
Learning Languages in West Hartford Public Schools
West Hartford Schools' elementary World Language Program is designed to enhance students’ communicative skills, while fostering knowledge and understanding of other cultures and disciplines.
During this three-year time frame, our students learn the fundamentals of second language learning through an array of topics and themes that include, among others, greetings, calendar, likes and dislikes, weather, animals, body parts, school-related vocabulary, clothing, numbers, time, family, sports and pastimes, travel and holidays. Although the knowledge and skills acquired during the first year of our program are very basic in nature, the level of difficulty and depth progresses within the subsequent two years. Through a spiral curriculum, students learn, recycle and expand knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical structures from year to year. At the same time, they develop four fundamental communicative skills in the second language. These skills are listening, speaking, reading and writing.
An essential part of teaching and learning a language is being able to measure how well students are acquiring those communicative skills. For that purpose, there are a number of age-appropriate assessments that are implemented throughout the year and the year’s end. These assessments, which vary from grade to grade, include all types of speaking, listening, writing and reading activities, including student-to-student dialogues, teacher-student questions and answers, skits, charades, projects, worksheets, songs and rhymes, games, quizzes, and presentations.
Our elementary World Language program not only helps our students’ communicative skills in a second language, but it also helps them understand and respect the multiple cultures and languages that exist within our West Hartford community and worldwide. Furthermore, it helps them reinforce the language of other subject areas. Last but not least, it provides a good foundation for their future learning.